Mining threat to remote tribe in Philippines
The Palawan live in the south of Palawan Island in the Philippines.
Thousands of new settlers and a big mining push by the Philippine government now pose a serious threat to the tribe.
The principle on which the Palawan base their life is called ingasiq, meaning ‘compassion’. This underlies all their actions and emphasizes the importance of behaving with generosity and sympathy towards others.
Their ceremonies, prayers, chanting and healing dances are all part of what they call adat et kegurangurangan, or ‘the customs of the ancestors’.
For the Palawan, the universe is vertical and divided into fourteen different layers. The souls of the beljan (shamans) are able to travel to these other levels in order to ‘heal the world’ and to re-establish the cosmic balance.
Shamans are not seen as special or sacred people, but are those who, either in a trance or dream, are able to enter the invisible world and contact super-human beings. They can see and extract impurities that are causing sickness from a patient’s body. They are also usually experts in the use of medicinal plants.
Good health is dependent on a balance between the body and its ‘life force’ (kuruduwa). The loss of kuruduwa creates a disturbance, which makes the body vulnerable to illness and attacks by malevolent beings.
The supreme being for the Palawan is known as Empuq, (the Lord or Owner) and he is believed to be the creator of all things in the world. Other benevolent beings live in the higher mountains.
The Palawan believe that the forest is home to a large number of demons. Demons known as lenggam are believed to be the caretakers of poisonous and biting animals such as scorpions and snakes.
Over-hunting or harvesting certain trees can cause these creatures to attack humans.